Armstrong hosted last night’s radio show and was joined by myself (Dr. Devon Smith) and FMR CIA Director Jim Woolsey. Given the announcement of Rex Tillerson’s departure from the White House, the first topic of the show centered around Tillerson’s exit and Mike Pompeo’s new role as Secretary of State. Jim Woolsey’s first remarks focused on his hope that Pompeo would be up to the challenge of wrangling a State Department under turmoil. Pompeo has quite an impressive resume- he graduated first in his class at West Point and went on to serve in the Army prior to graduating from Harvard Law School. I also jumped into the conversation to point out that it appears that Pompeo and Donald Trump seem to be aligned regarding foreign policy.

Armstrong took some time to acknowledge that there must be a certain level of distrust that this constant turnover is breeding within the Trump administration. One cannot argue that this revolving door is a reflection of poor leadership. While everyone was able to agree that the turnover is due to leadership, I speculated that there may also be other factors that are causing people to burn out or be asked to leave. For example, this presidency has taken on more negative press than any other presidency that I can remember. I can only imagine how challenging and draining working in the White House and I’m not sure how one can be prepared for that pressure appropriately. On top of that, imagine taking on the negative mainstream media on a daily basis. I wonder how this MIGHT impact the longevity of someone of these positions.

The first caller of the show inquired about how other countries’ might feel about Pompeo being a former CIA agent and spy. Jim Woolsey fielded this question and explained that from his experience as FMR CIA Director, Nations are fairly used to individuals moving around in the intelligence field- it’s a fairly normal occurrence. He went on to provide an example during his time as FMR CIA Director. During a lunch meeting with a Russian diplomat, a KGB member was present who undoubtedly had tried to learn secrets about the US. It was also understood that the KGB agent likely knew the CIA was trying to learn Russia’s secrets. The men enjoyed lunch and went about their business regardless of that knowledge.

Another caller garnered interesting conversation when he mentioned the idea of loyalty. He felt that he wasn’t sure that Donald Trump was pro-America or that he had America’s best interest at heart! Myself, Woolsey and Armstrong all agreed that one thing is clear: Donald Trump is a PATRIOT above all else. Hate him or love him, America is his priority!